


Oh Sunny One

by phasamtasie



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow and the Canaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Strangers to Lovers, i love dinah singing, soft, steet musician dinah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22861357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phasamtasie/pseuds/phasamtasie
Summary: Laurel’s breath was taken away not only by how beautiful she was, but also by seeing just how expressive she sang the songs. Every word wasn’t only said with intention and emotion but also mirrored on her face, the feelings and spirit of the song hanging in the air around her. Scared she wouldn’t be able to tear herself away, she dropped her 10 bucks in the guitar case after the song was finished and was met with the most genuine and beautiful smile she had ever seen.orDinah is a street musician and Laurel falls in love with her music (and maybe more)
Relationships: Dinah Drake & Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Laurel Lance
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Oh Sunny One

**Author's Note:**

> I loved the bar scene in Green Arrow and the Canaries and finding out the lyrics are actually different is like proof to me, that Dinah is in love and if Laurel's smile is any indication so is she. This story was actually inspired by a play I watched where the lead fell in love with a street musician and it reminded me a lot of Dinah and Laurel.
> 
> PS Thank you Nina for beta reading this and loving this story so much!

The first time Laurel heard her sing was when she was on her way home from getting some groceries. The woman was just sitting there at the corner of the park, strumming a simple rhythm on her guitar that perfectly underlined her singing without taking away from her beautiful voice. She was instantly mesmerized by the soft sound of the woman’s voice and wished she could stop and listen to her sing longer, but she was expecting guests at home. In the next week she went by the place everyday in hopes of finding that beautiful sound again, but with no luck. She was starting to believe she would never get to hear her sing again.

Only until one evening after work, she rushed through the streets, more than ready to get home after the stressful day she had had. She stopped dead in her tracks, earning her anger from the person behind her, when she heard the voice again. The voice she had been listening out for every time she had walked the streets in the past weeks. A few bypassers had gathered around the woman this time but Laurel found a corner a little further away where she could watch the woman play without being noticed. She didn’t like standing in the middle of the street and listening to people play their music. She felt too watched, too visible in the spotlight, like she was taking away from the person who deserved it. She also just liked to keep to some kind of wall because that’s what her job had taught her to do — keep safe, never stand free without anything to hide behind.  
Listening to the soft song that was now playing relaxed Laurel and she felt her stress melt away by the minute. So instead of hurrying home, she stayed and just listened. Enjoying this moment of calm, she smiled to herself, something she rarely did but music had always been very special to her. It helped her clear her head when she was overthinking and reminded her of her sister whom she saw very rarely, but listening to their shared playlist always made her feel like Sara was right there with her. She let herself get lost in one more song and in the sweet voice that seemed to hit every note just the right way before she made her way home. On her way, she promised herself to bring some cash with her from now on so that next time she could give back something for the smile that woman had put on her face.

Days turned into weeks and it took two whole weeks for Laurel to see the woman again. Laurel believed the wait made seeing her all the more beautiful, because she had started to fear she wouldn’t get to see her again and wouldn’t get to thank her. While she knew most of the songs the woman sang, some were new to her so she started writing them down, even though the original never sounded as pretty as the version she had heard before. Before she left that day she joined the bypassers for a song, really seeing the woman for the first time and not just hearing her song. Laurel’s breath was taken away not only by how beautiful she was, but also by seeing just how expressive she sang the songs. Every word wasn’t only said with intention and emotion but also mirrored on her face, the feelings and spirit of the song hanging in the air around her. Scared she wouldn’t be able to tear herself away, she dropped her 10 bucks in the guitar case after the song was finished and was met with the most genuine and beautiful smile she had ever seen.

Whenever she walked past the streets in the coming days Laurel saw that smile again as if it had just happened. She couldn’t say what stood out so much to her, but it was the way the smile reached her eyes and looked so sincere, something Laurel didn’t see often as a attorney. Most people she worked with were pretty stern and didn’t make time for kindness in their day, she didn’t see a lot of smiles and when she did they weren’t genuine but rather polite and forced. She wanted to see the smile again but her patience was tested once again as it took another week before she got to hear the woman’s music again.  
She had worked longer that day and was sure the woman wouldn’t be there this late anymore so upon hearing her still singing, a smile made its way on her face. This time she joined the small group of people near the singer immediately, wanting to watch the woman play rather than just listen. Even though she stood at the corner of the group, the woman's eyes met hers and for a moment, just a moment, Laurel felt like she was singing just to her. Looking at her with those brown eyes that matched her hair so perfectly, a smile on the lips that sang a song that Laurel didn’t even hear, and something she hadn’t felt for a long time tugged at her heart. It couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds because when Laurel blinked the woman was already looking away again, focusing on her guitar, but to Laurel it felt like time had stood still. The song had ended and she dropped another bill in the case, giving the woman a smile before heading home, feeling like eyes were burning a hole in the back of her head.  
Laurel couldn’t figure out what had fazed her so much about the way the woman had looked at her and she couldn’t tell what she had pulled at in the back of her mind. All she knew was that it was something she hadn’t felt in so long, that it felt like a far away memory and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to come back. At the same time it excited her, she looked forward to listening to the woman sing every day hoping she would meet her again because listening to the originals of the songs she sang just wasn’t the same.

It had only been a couple of days since she last had stopped to listen, so seeing her again so soon surprised Laurel, especially given how late it was. But she spotted her as soon as she turned the corner. Taking a look at her watch Laurel figured she was packing up because no bypassers were gathered and she seemed to collect the money. Not wanting to hold her up any longer Laurel just walked passed when she heard the voice, she had only heard sing before, call after her.  
“Hey you! Aren’t you the girl you watched me play ever since I first came here?”  
Confused, Laurel turned around, she wasn’t sure if it was her the woman was speaking to.  
“Do you mean me?”  
“Who else would I mean? What’s your name?”  
“Laurel”  
“Hey Laurel, I am Dinah. I am glad you like my music.” And there it was again, that smile that tucked at something deep inside Laurel’s heart, something so raw that it almost scared her, but that she also couldn’t shy away from because it was so captivating.  
“I really do”, an involuntary smile on her lips.  
“I am sorry I really have to go, but see you soon Laurel.” and just like that she was gone. It felt like Laurel had just awakened from a dream by having cold water poured over her face. The night felt colder and she shivered, not knowing if it was because of her clouded head or the cold wind, but she hurried home either way still thinking about the woman. No, she was thinking of Dinah.  
Laurel couldn’t get Dinah saying “See you soon Laurel” with the smallest smile out of her head, something about it had just felt so promising, like Dinah was looking forward to seeing her again. She didn’t know why, but some part of her wanted this to be true, but the longer she waited the less she believed in it. After two weeks of not seeing Dinah again she had almost given up on the woman coming back. Maybe she thought Laurel was weird after all for watching her play every time or maybe she had just started playing somewhere else. So when she heard the faint sound of a guitar through her broken headphones her heart almost jumped. She knew it was Dinah without hearing her sing or seeing her, and her chest felt lighter, like she had exhaled a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

This day Laurel stayed until the end, not able to pry herself away from the music she had missed so much in the last three weeks and hoping to get to talk to Dinah again. When she ended her little concert some people, who had listened, complimented her and told her and told her how much that had loved one or the other song. Laurel stood on the side waiting for them to go and hoping Dinah would even still wanna talk to her.  
“You waited”, the voice caught Laurel by surprise, having been deep in thought before and not having noticed that everyone else had left.  
“Guess I did”, she noticed she didn’t really know what she wanted to talk about, she didn’t have anything to say or ask.  
“I am sorry it took me so long to come here again. The bar kept me busy.”  
Laurel hadn’t expected Dinah to even remember her words and even less an apology and she was taken aback by the sincerity in her voice. Not knowing what to say she just gave her a light smile and focused on something else instead.  
“The bar?”  
“Oh yey, I have a bar that I run. Playing here is just something I do for fun.”  
“What’s it called?”  
“You want to pay me a visit?” The teasing in Dinah’s was undismissable paired with the quirk of her eyebrow, but she wasn't wrong because Laurel definitely wouldn’t mind seeing the other woman more often.  
“The bar’s name is Black Canary and speaking of the devil I have to get back there. Have a good night, Laurel” and once again Dinah was gone in a blink of an eye.

Laurel had planned on going to the bar as soon as possible, but of course, luck wasn’t on her side. Work started piling up with her working on two though cases and running into dead ends day after day, having to work late more often than usual. When she managed to get home earlier, she was so tired that all she did was sleep or spend her rare free time doing necessary chores. Days turned into weeks and Dinah seemed to be equally busy as she didn’t show up playing in the street either.  
Almost 3 weeks after their last meeting Laurel managed to have a Friday night off and was getting ready to go to the bar, feeling weirdly nervous about meeting Dinah again. She arrived right when bars were the most crowded, but finding Dinah didn’t take her long as she heard her voice echo through the bar the moment she entered. Making her way to the counter to get a drink she bathed in the soft sound filling the room, a smile playing at her lips. With a drink in her hand she made her way to the front just when Dinah started a new song, one that was all too familiar to Laurel.

  
“ _Sunny, yesterday my heart was filled with rain_  
_Oh oh Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain_  
_Oh The dark days are gone_  
_Ant the bright days are here_  
_My Sunny one shines so sincere_  
_Oh oh Sunny one so true_ ”

  
Their eyes met and the world seemed to stop, nothing seemed to matter other than Dinah singing and Laurel's heart beating way faster than it was supposed to.

“ _I am in love with you_ ”

  
From beating too fast to feeling like her heart had stopped in a matter of seconds was new for Laurel, but everything seemed so clear the second she heard those words.  
Laurel knew the song by heart so she knew those weren’t the lyrics, this was Dinah, this was what Dinah sang right after she had spotted Laurel and she had felt like the words had been sung to her and nobody else. Suddenly the small tug at her heart she had felt whenever she had thought about Dinah wasn’t a tug anymore, it was a feeling so raw and so clear that she wondered how she didn’t see it sooner. It had felt like a faint memory because it was, it had been a long time ago that Laurel had truly felt for anyone and not just admired their body. But there she was, still up on the stage singing the last words of the song, the woman that had sung her way into Laurel’s heart without her even noticing.

**Author's Note:**

> When I started this story I had it planned differently, but it started writing itself so I had to go with it.  
> If you would want to see this story continued or want more of dinah being a musician let me know.


End file.
